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Wandering Weiss – Chapter 8

Summary: Were it not for a wandering musician’s cynical words, Weiss Schnee would have continued on the path to becoming a Huntress. Now, a disinherited Weiss lives as a wandering singer, trying to be a hero in a different manner, with that wandering musician named Jaune Arc as a companion…

“Yeah, my name’s Blake. That girl who owned that book which Jaune gave back.”

“Have you seen that Arc, then?” Weiss immediately interrogated, making the other girl tense as she marched closer. “If you have, then tell me right now!”

The former heiress was not going to let an opportunity to him go, indeed. And speaking of which…

“You maintain scroll correspondence with him as well, correct? If you know where he is, you will lead me to him, no questions asked!”

“Okay…” Blake responded with uncertainty, still tense as she took slow steps back from the shorter but more imposing girl. “Maybe he’s in the inn where I’m working right now…Your next stop is that place, actually…”

“I don’t know why you’re so angry right now, but whatever it is that he did to you, I really don’t know about it,” Blake answered back, posture straightening up. “All I know is that you and Jaune are coming to perform in the inn where I’m working, and that I walked into you just now. Jaune hasn’t contacted me, too, if you were wondering about that. So now, will you please shut up and follow me? I’m sure you wouldn’t want to waste the job opportunity, princess.”

“How dare – ” Weiss tried to answer back, but the mentions of the job had her thinking twice.

Now, what if what Blake was saying was true? The thought of wasting such an opportunity because of another loss of temper control was not a very good thought to the former heiress, even if her companion was one uncouth and cowardly being, because she needed to sustain herself.

Well, not like she couldn’t go on with venting her anger towards him if she followed Blake, right?

And if Blake didn’t know where they were supposed to go, Weiss would unleash some worse words upon her.

After some walking and impatient talking, Blake and Weiss arrived at a homely-looking inn within a more bustling part of the coastal city.

The inn they entered felt like an extension of its surroundings, as it had a pub filled with chattering customers, with tourists being the likely majority, considering the time of day. Weiss didn’t know much about the town, though, but anyway, the noise of the pub with a stage on one side was enough to tell Weiss about having to be serious about her work as a wandering singer.

Watching Blake, Weiss looked on as the raven-haired girl greeted an unfamiliar large man who was handling the bar. Words were exchanged – probably questions, considering their body language – and then the bandana-wearing girl opened a door beside the bar, entering it and leaving the former heiress’s sight.

Weiss let out a breath, foot tapping faster and arms crossing tighter as she thought about what she needed to say to that Arc. Fine, maybe she was going about it too much, but he didn’t need to be so rude! Manners are important, after all.

“Still, why am I expecting such from someone like him?” she asked herself as she remembered his attitude ever since they first met. “And maybe…maybe I really am in the wrong as well…”

The former heiress also remembered the other parts of her family, members who should be mentioned more but weren’t mentioned as much. Sure, her focus was mostly on her father and her older sister when it came to interactions with her family, but that didn’t keep her from remembering her mother and Whitley.

“They are bound to find out about my dishinheritance if they haven’t yet, and when they do, there will be bigger chaos…”

With that, Weiss put a hand to her face and shook her head. The hand clenched into a fist, and she sighed, followed by a deep breath as she started thinking up an apology to say to Jaune.

She went about what to say in her mind. Asking further about his family problems was definitely out of the question, even though a part of her suggested talking about her own family problems further in exchange. Weiss was still uncomfortable about discussing those other members of her family, after all.

An admission of fault, a calm tone, an appeal for forgiveness. The process was grating on her Schnee pride, but she knew that it must be done.

Waiting became more grueling, still. What was taking Blake so long?

Suddenly, there was the muffled sound of a door creaking as it opened, and Weiss’s ice blue locked with Blake’s amber. The bandana-wearing ravenette nodded with a serious expression, and Weiss promptly followed, walking past the chattering customers.

When she went past the door, Blake closed it, and Weiss’s curiosity was momentarily sparked by how muffled the pub customers’ chatter became. The former heiress then shook her head to regain focus and keep her nervousness at bay, and she turned to look at the inn worker beside her.

“Where is he?” Weiss asked, voice more subdued than the last time she asked that sort of question.

“He got himself a room already,” Blake answered, voice more subdued as well. “Well, a room for you two, that is. Still, convincing him to talk to you was a challenge.”

“Well, he won’t need to worry so much,” Weiss tried to assure, although she felt like that was more for her own self. “I’m going to apologize to him as well.”

“Well, good luck with that. Oh, and he’s at Room 110.”

The wandering singer didn’t bother give further words to Blake, opting to nod at the ravenette and walk to the aforementioned room.

Every step felt heavier than usual, though, but Weiss continued to walk to that room’s door.

By the time the door and its attached number label were right in front of her, she took a deep breath while standing in front of it.

Then, she knocked.

She didn’t move, and she wasn’t going to move until he himself opened it…until he showed willingness to make up with her.

The former heiress didn’t know how much time was passing, but the silence she was having felt agonizing.

“Is he even – “

And then the door opened.

“…”

“…”

Uncertainty was in their eyes, though Jaune was probably doing better job at hiding it. Maybe Jaune was madly pacing around in his mind, too, trying to find words that would properly start the conversation that they should be having. Maybe he was knocking down important ones as he searched the nooks and crannies of his mind, but hey, shouldn’t she be trying to find her own words?

“I’m sorry – ” “I was a jerk – ”

It was like those stupid moments which involved trying to get out of each other’s way, the sort which made one confused about whether the other was intentionally getting in the way or not.

In this case, they bumped into each other, but not to the point of hitting the ground.

Now, time to take the opportunity within the momentarily shared silence…

“I’m sorry, Jaune,” Weiss managed to say, stopping the blonde musician from uttering a sound. “I was prying. It was very hypocritical of me.”

“And I…I guess leaving you like that was too much…” Jaune then replied, taking his chance to speak while Weiss couldn’t get her words gathered right. “Yeah…”

And then they shared an awkward silence.

“So much for expecting a smooth sailing talk, alright…” Jaune added with a snort.

“Can we just go on with our lives now, then?” Weiss asked, struggling to keep her eyes on her musician companion’s face. “Like…what do we do next?”

And then the wandering singer mentally headdesked at that response of hers. Again, so much for expecting a smooth sailing talk.

And again, they shared awkward silence.

“Need help?”

And the wandering musician duo gasped with a jump.

“Okay, how long have you been there, Blake?” Jaune asked, one hand on the doorway as he held his chest with his other hand. “I swear, you scared me there just now.”

“I agree with Jaune,” Weiss followed, form tensed as she aimed her gaze at the nonchalant inn worker. “I am having goosebumps as well.”

“Well, you better keep your senses sharp, then,” Blake told them. “Even wandering performers need to have that, you know.” Then, she let out a breath. “Anyway, would you like some help with clearing the awkwardness between you two? It hurts to watch you two be so awkward.”

“You could have just left this corridor,” Weiss countered. “The door to the pub is right there.”

And then there was a twitch in one of Blake’s eyes.

“Tch…I did not think this through…” the bandana-wearing ravenette then grumbled, grasping her left arm with the other. “Alright, fine, I was gonna ask Jaune out.”

“…”

“…”

Weiss took some seconds to process that. And then…

“Oh…Well, I guess that’s okay,” Jaune answered, beginning to relax and smile, though with some traces of awkwardness, still. “Finally, the first date!”

“Heh…that’s great…” said Blake, who was now blushing and looking away. “So…where do you wanna go first?”

“Uh, don’t you have work, Blake?” the blonde asked. “Plus, Weiss and I need to meet your boss for the performance preparations and stuff. We can go out later. That okay with you?”

“I won’t, Blake,” Jaune promised, and then he turned to Weiss. “Go put your luggage in the room, and then we’ll meet Ma’am Lucia, the innkeeper.”

“I know, Jaune,” Weiss told her blonde companion, giving him a light flick to the forehead. “No need to hammer the obvious in further.”

“And here we have Her Frozen Majesty again,” he replied theatrically, with exaggerated extensions of his arms and such too. “Welcome back, Ice Queen!”

The former heiress answered with a grin, though with a sideway glance and no words accompanying it. She passed her blonde companion by and entered the room, taking in the homely but decent interior design.

Weiss didn’t stay in the room for long, considering how much time it took to leave her handbag and her suitcase behind. That, and she wanted to meet the employer as soon as possible.

“Let’s go, Jaune, Blake,” she called, pausing to wait for them.

“‘Kay.”

“Alright. Follow me.”

Walking on the corridor of rooms, they passed a staircase by. Along the way, some people who wore outfits that were similar to Blake’s exited rooms while carrying various cleaning implements and such.

And speaking of those people, they were giving the walking trio some looks. Among them, Weiss noticed a mischievous one being sent to Blake, a curious one to Jaune, and an awestruck one to the wandering singer herself.

As she walked side by side with them, Weiss managed to notice Blake rolling her eyes and Jaune raising an eyebrow.

As for the former heiress, she did feel some pride at the look that she had received, but it was subdued. Pride had made her crash a lot, after all.

“We’re here,” she then heard from Blake.

Looking around, the location of the innkeeper’s room was easy to spot, as it was beyond the door at the end of the long corridor.

“Ma’am?” their companion inn worker asked with a loud voice, knocking loud on the door as well. “I have the two of them with me now!”

And then there was silence.

The two wandering musicians gave Blake confused looks, too.

“Ugh…”

Then, as she groaned, Blake shook her head and opened the door.

The scene which greeted them was that of a room which was just as big as the other rooms in the inn.

Also, there was an elderly woman who was doing a jig while having headphones over her ears. Said woman froze and shot a gaze a few seconds after Blake opened the door. Then, while her eyes stayed on the three in front of her, the woman slowly slid one hand into her pocket, the other reaching for her headphones.

“Ma’am Lucia, taking breaks is fine,” said Blake, who had a hand on her waist, “But please…don’t get carried away.”

Uh-oh. Weiss felt some nervousness coming up at that, and it kept on coming as the employer eyed her at an uncomfortably close distance.

“…I don’t think we’ve met before?” the former heiress managed to say with an awkward grin, dearly hoping for the woman to take a hint already.

“You’re Wandering Weiss…correct?” the elderly woman asked, wrinkled forehead wrinkling up along with a rising eyebrow.

“Yes…” the questioned girl answered, nodding slowly.

And then there was some awkward silence.

“Great!” Ma’am Lucia suddenly declared, and then she was doing a handshake with Weiss. “I do hope that your skill is as good as Blakey claims! Especially with your looks…like wow, elegant but modest…”

And while the employer gushed on about the potential she saw in Weiss, the wandering singer herself turned to Blake.

“Is she always like this?” Weiss whispered through her teeth.

Blake’s answer was a pitying nod.

With that, Weiss put on a fake smile, nodding along with whatever Lucia was spouting.

Yes, the former heiress had some thanks to give to those times when she practiced tuning out –

” – but wait a minute, Blake, did you say that Weiss here travels with Jaune?”

“Uh…yeah.”

“So…lovers?”

“”No.””

The wandering musicians stated their denial in unison, and then they exchanged deadpan looks, and then they met a look that reminded Weiss of a shark smelling blood.

“Interesting…” the grinning Lucia declared.

Weiss also shuddered at how that word left Lucia’s mouth.

“Ma’am, our partnership does not necessarily mean a relationship like that,” the former heiress tried to rebut.

“But you two look as old as Blakey here!” the elderly woman replied, still grinning. “And I know that the two of you are staying in the same room, so…”

Weiss was really resisting the urge to throttle the woman at that point. The way Lucia acted was creating a very irritating clash with how old she looked, indeed.

“Oh come on, I was just kidding!” Lucia then declared, slapping Weiss’s back while cackling. “I already know about Blake’s plans with your partner, you know!”

And Weiss took a deep breath.

“…and I assume that you simply wanted to rile me up?” the former heiress asked, her displeasure seeping out while she wondered about whether the gray-haired woman in front of her was once blonde or not.

Really, Lucia reminded Weiss of Yang…but now that she thought about it, Weiss considered Yang more mature.

“Excuse me…” she said, looking over her shoulder, “But what do you think you’re doing?”

“I’m keeping you from throttling our employer?” the blonde musician answered, his questioning tone sounding more like his usual sarcasm than actual confusion.

“Do I look like I’m going to throttle our employer?” Weiss asked back, raising her hands. “Clearly, I am not doing so right now.”

And clearly, throttling isn’t the only way to deal with annoyances.

“Well, I think we should cool off with, uh…practice!” the Arc responded. “Yeah, we’ll practice!”

The Arc then gave a wordless look to Blake, who wordlessly nodded in return.

“I sense a threesome in the making…” the oh-so irritating womanchild decided to add.

Jaune’s pull quickened after that, and the two wandering musicians got out of the room. Once the duo managed to get out, the bandana-wearing ravenette shut the door to Lucia’s room.

All seemed peaceful, and even the Arc seemed to think so as well, considering his sigh.

“I’d murder that womanchild, but that would be counterproductive, no?”

Still, Weiss had some rage to vent out.

“I guess she went too far, then…” Jaune commented.

“Oh, she did go too far, embarrassing us like that!” Weiss snapped. “And she even has the gall to be unapologetic about it! Why can she not act like her age and just – ”

“Weiss!”

The angry girl then shot a glare at her blonde companion, who was giving her a still and serious look in return.

“We’re going to practice,” he then said. “We’ll practice somewhere quiet, somewhere that doesn’t have a lot of people. Still, I have to remind you: We’re bound to deal with people like Lucia every now and then, and I’m sure that your upbringing makes you no stranger to people like her, but we have to keep calm and be mature when dealing with them, okay?”

Weiss kept her glare up, but still, she took a deep breath and maintained eye contact.

She nodded, and then she walked forward, wanting to cool off as soon as possible.

Indeed, her short temper was annoying her. And so much for her attempt at helping Jaune with the business side of their work…

Well, for now, she would try to relax with music. Up until now, today had been a very stressful day for her, and with that, she really felt the need for relaxation.

“Here.”

“Thanks.”

Jaune bought Weiss a hat, one meant to cover her head from the brightening sun.

It wasn’t summer yet, and the spring morning was bringing a breeze in, but the Atlas-born girl accepted the hat, not wanting to risk getting easily sunburnt.

As for where they currently were, they were near a beach of the coastal city called Abalone. They walked to a part which was far from the manmade buildings, giving Weiss more peace as she felt the softness of the sand and the smell of the sea. The sand that managed to get into her footwear wasn’t a major irritation, too.

“Better not forget to deal with the laundry,” Jaune offhandedly reminded as he sat on a rock.

“We can deal with that later,” Weiss replied as she also sat on a rock. “We still have money, right?”

“Of course,” he answered as he propped his guitar up and randomly made some sounds with it.

“I also hope that you have enough for your date with Blake,” the wandering singer added.

“Don’t worry about that,” the guitarist deflected, playing a chain of chords now. “As for you, you need to relax.”

Weiss raised an eyebrow at that.

“How quick…”

“What do you mean, Weiss?”

“Well, considering how we’ve been today…you know…”

“Oh…”

And he paused his strumming.

“I guess I’m quick to forgive, then.”

And then he continued playing sounds with his guitar.

Weiss felt like he had some hidden meaning beneath his expression again, but learning from recent interactions had her holding back.

So instead, she sang whatever came to her mind.

After a while, Jaune paused.

“You need to work the rhymes better, Weiss,” he told her.

“I’m trying to relax, Jaune,” she deadpanned. “And I’m sure that you’re doing the same, too, judging from the strange sounds that you’re making with your guitar.”

“Hm. Fair point, I guess.”

And so, they went on with their spontaneous and awkward performance.

Weiss did remember the need to practice for that performance at the inn, but she considered asking the innkeeper about what songs to play first. Sure, Lucia could be a womanchild, but the relaxation made thinking easier for Weiss, as it involved diverting her attention towards things that held more worth than stooping down to an immature person’s level.

“Thanks, Jaune,” she said after some time.

“No problem, Weiss,” he replied.

And up until noontime, they relaxed with music and nature some more.

Author’s Note: After a long while of not updating, I’m back with, well, an update, yo! I’ve had some ease thinking about future events for this fanfic, especially after recent canon updates, but trying to get back into the groove of writing this has been difficult, especially considering my time management/activity juggling skills lately. But unlike how I did with a certain original multi-chapter story of mine, I don’t think I’ll be backing down from this so easily, as I have more easily reachable feedback sources now (Also, thank you very much, PA Forum peeps~).

Also, supporting OC, yo. Expect more of them, too.

Now, I’d like to say this again: Honest constructive feedback is highly encouraged and will be highly appreciated.